Kevka Palazzo
2008-02-26, 09:05 AM
[Warning: Long Question]
So I’m getting ready for the release of 4th by planning a massive, multi-party campaign spanning entire epochs (or, in keeping with the recent D&D Insider Article, Zeitgeists (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080225a)[requires valid Insider login to view]) and a confrontation at the Origin of All Things.
Sound epic? That’s great, because at this point all I’ve got is early ideas. Not that that’s a bad thing, and there’s certainly no hurry (grr…stupid May release).
But since I want the world setup before I begin learning the 4th Edition Mechanics (it’s easily the largest campaign idea I’ve ever started to design).
The first thing I had to develop was a planar structure. I decided on a very simply planar layout: Material, Feywild and Shadowfell are easy to reach, Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos not so much. Then there is the Origin of All Things, a special plane which I haven’t ironed any details out for, save that the final confrontation is there.
The next thing I had to figure out is how gods worked into the campaign. I was going to use the 4th Edition Pantheon, after applying a coat of “non-involved” colored paint onto the gods so they aren’t constantly messing with stuff (but the epic tier characters need divine patrons, IMO, so they should be available).
The important god I have to design for the campaign is an overseer of time. The first idea I had was a female supervisor, wholly omnipotent and acutely aware of the passage of time and capable of existing in all times at once, yet not actually having any power over the world outside of making sure time operates like it’s supposed to (this rigid, mechanical aspect to her purview could mean that the Origin of All Things, a time-based plane, could have been clockwork in terms of aesthetics, but more on that later).
The BBEG I’m having some difficulty designing. Right now I have two ideas: an ancient, alien and utterly chaotic creature born of the godly detritus that makes up its divine brethren hell-bent on the dissolution of order and the elimination of All Things; a formerly-mortal servant of the timeless chaos of the Elemental Chaos or the Abyss who has achieved a level of power high enough to cause the dissolution of order and the elimination of All Things (capitalization means epic! [smiley]).
Regardless of origin, the intent and general method is the same: the situation is that a dark taint has found its way to the Origin of All Things and hampered the keeper’s ability to maintain and manage the passage and flow of time. How this affects the characters is that they become aware of changes in their timelines (I use the plural because I’m planning on multiple parties from different time periods and possibly different timelines) and are eventually scrambled around.
I have thought of two ways to deal with the keeper of time once the PCs encounter it. In one, it beseeches their aid and wants them to eliminate the taint that has affected it in any way they can. Alternatively, it being an unchanging, all-powerful entity, it might have become scared of its newfound vulnerability and actively tries to hamper the PCs, afraid that they might try to kill it or simply change it (this is if I decide to make the keeper so alien that,to it, change is a horrible, unimaginable prospect).
Lastly, and this is the latest problem that I have, is how magic will work. If the PCs encounter the BBEG, and its some horrible taint/time keeper hybrid or the living essence of the great endless chaos in an alien, extraplanar landscape at the Origin of All Things, where will their magic come from? If they journey to the beginning of the universe to deal with the BBEG, where are the gods that grant the cleric power or the eternal magic well powering the warlock’s eldritch blast and invocations?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I would love some input on it to guide my steps. I understand 4th Ed isn’t even close to being out, but everything that I’ve described is fluff, anyway.
So I’m getting ready for the release of 4th by planning a massive, multi-party campaign spanning entire epochs (or, in keeping with the recent D&D Insider Article, Zeitgeists (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080225a)[requires valid Insider login to view]) and a confrontation at the Origin of All Things.
Sound epic? That’s great, because at this point all I’ve got is early ideas. Not that that’s a bad thing, and there’s certainly no hurry (grr…stupid May release).
But since I want the world setup before I begin learning the 4th Edition Mechanics (it’s easily the largest campaign idea I’ve ever started to design).
The first thing I had to develop was a planar structure. I decided on a very simply planar layout: Material, Feywild and Shadowfell are easy to reach, Astral Sea and Elemental Chaos not so much. Then there is the Origin of All Things, a special plane which I haven’t ironed any details out for, save that the final confrontation is there.
The next thing I had to figure out is how gods worked into the campaign. I was going to use the 4th Edition Pantheon, after applying a coat of “non-involved” colored paint onto the gods so they aren’t constantly messing with stuff (but the epic tier characters need divine patrons, IMO, so they should be available).
The important god I have to design for the campaign is an overseer of time. The first idea I had was a female supervisor, wholly omnipotent and acutely aware of the passage of time and capable of existing in all times at once, yet not actually having any power over the world outside of making sure time operates like it’s supposed to (this rigid, mechanical aspect to her purview could mean that the Origin of All Things, a time-based plane, could have been clockwork in terms of aesthetics, but more on that later).
The BBEG I’m having some difficulty designing. Right now I have two ideas: an ancient, alien and utterly chaotic creature born of the godly detritus that makes up its divine brethren hell-bent on the dissolution of order and the elimination of All Things; a formerly-mortal servant of the timeless chaos of the Elemental Chaos or the Abyss who has achieved a level of power high enough to cause the dissolution of order and the elimination of All Things (capitalization means epic! [smiley]).
Regardless of origin, the intent and general method is the same: the situation is that a dark taint has found its way to the Origin of All Things and hampered the keeper’s ability to maintain and manage the passage and flow of time. How this affects the characters is that they become aware of changes in their timelines (I use the plural because I’m planning on multiple parties from different time periods and possibly different timelines) and are eventually scrambled around.
I have thought of two ways to deal with the keeper of time once the PCs encounter it. In one, it beseeches their aid and wants them to eliminate the taint that has affected it in any way they can. Alternatively, it being an unchanging, all-powerful entity, it might have become scared of its newfound vulnerability and actively tries to hamper the PCs, afraid that they might try to kill it or simply change it (this is if I decide to make the keeper so alien that,to it, change is a horrible, unimaginable prospect).
Lastly, and this is the latest problem that I have, is how magic will work. If the PCs encounter the BBEG, and its some horrible taint/time keeper hybrid or the living essence of the great endless chaos in an alien, extraplanar landscape at the Origin of All Things, where will their magic come from? If they journey to the beginning of the universe to deal with the BBEG, where are the gods that grant the cleric power or the eternal magic well powering the warlock’s eldritch blast and invocations?
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, but I would love some input on it to guide my steps. I understand 4th Ed isn’t even close to being out, but everything that I’ve described is fluff, anyway.